Electrochemical production of urea via pulsed electrosynthesis

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Electrosynthesis is an emerging sustainable alternative to highly CO2-emitting thermochemical routes to generate societally valuable fuels and chemicals that can take advantage of renewable sources to drive the reactions.Within this context, the electrosynthesis of urea from small molecule reactants (e.g. CO2, NH3) is a promising route to generating urea, a molecule widely used in agriculture, materials, transport and medicine. A key challenge in this field is the development of catalytic systems with sufficient activity and selectivity for urea production. Against this backdrop, this project will build on the use of pulsed electrocatalysis to develop a highly functional urea electrosynthetic system. The proposed work will accomplish this by integrating mechanistic investigations, materials development, and reactor engineering to bridge the gap between lab scale proof-of-concept and industrially relevant performance. The project is expected to train a new generation of HQP in an in-demand area and help Quebec and Canada step into a leadership position in renewable energy research. Further, the project will initiate a multi-disciplinary collaboration between researchers in the University of Montreal, McGill University, and Queens University.